Recreational vehicles, for example, motorhomes and travel trailers, often are provided with retractable awning systems. Such awning systems may include a roller, an awning fabric or canopy having a first end that is attached to and can be rolled onto and off of the roller, means for driving the roller so that the awning fabric may be rolled onto and off of the roller, and support structure for supporting the roller and the other (“free”) end of the awning fabric when deployed from the roller. Either the roller or the free end of the awning fabric may be attached to the vehicle, and the other of the roller or the free end of the awning fabric may be attached to an extendable support structure.
Known extendable support structures generally fall into two categories: cantilevered supports and strut-type supports. Cantilevered supports typically include arms that extend outwardly, more or less horizontally, from an outer wall of the vehicle near the attachment of the roller or awning fabric to the vehicle. As such, cantilevered supports may be located entirely overhead so that they do not interfere with a person entering or exiting the space underneath the awning fabric. Cantilevered supports, however, may not be as robust as strut-type supports and may not be able to withstand loads as great as may be withstood by strut-type supports.
Strut-type supports typically include struts extending from a lower portion of a wall of a structure to which the awning and support structure may be attached. As such, strut-type supports can be more robust than cantilevered supports. Such struts, however, typically extend diagonally along the sides of the space covered by the awning, and obstruct entry to and exit from that space from and to the sides of that space.